


selvage

by fangirl_squee



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Getting Together, Knitting, M/M, Multi, Secret Samol 2017, Sharing Body Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 07:50:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13142256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: Selvage: the raw edge of a piece, the edges that were the first and last rows of stitches





	selvage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lu_a_1810](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lu_a_1810/gifts).



> for Lu for Secret Samol 2017 - happy holidays!!! I hope you like this!!!!!
> 
> also: bonus fanmix available to listen/download here: http://mariusperkins.tumblr.com/post/168924679397/selvage-a-fanmix-wild-love-gossling
> 
> also also: beta'd by Lexie - thank you so much Lexie, I don't know what I'd do without you

Hella was glad when their small group reached the first clearing marked on the map. It was late in the day, and the cold wind hadn’t let up during their journey out of Rosemerrow. She thought almost longingly on the small room at the inn in Rosemerrow, cramped but warm, where she’d stayed for a few days after they’d finished their investigation. Their current job was much less glamourous than temporarily being part of the Golden Lance -- checking the roads that ran in and out of Rosemerrow to make sure the cold and the dark hadn’t made them too treacherous for trade.

 

It was easy work, especially since they weren’t being tasked with actually  _ clearing  _ the roads, only making note of where the more dangerous sections were, but in some ways that made it more difficult. There wasn’t anything to distract Hella from the cold.

 

She’d thought her two companions on the journey, Lem and Fero, would have provided some kind of entertainment; they certainly had on their first journey together. Even if she hadn’t been particularly interested in what they were saying, their constant stream of chatter and laughter had been oddly soothing. Now, unfortunately, it seemed as though they were in the middle of some kind of argument where they had both apparently decided to give each other the silent treatment.

 

Hella hoped they’d get over whatever it was soon. The role of peacemaker did not suit her, and she wasn’t much inclined to try to make it fit.

 

They began to set up camp, clearing space of the tent and marking out a small spot for the fire as out of the wind as they could manage it. Fero perched himself on top of his pack, pulled a tangle of wool out of his pack and begin to very slowly knit. Lem flopped down on the ground next to Fero, looking at the patch of ground Hella had cleared for their fire. Despite how close they were sitting to each other, they didn’t look up.

 

Hella set down the armful of wood she was holding and began to set up the campfire, the sound of it echoing around the small clearing. Fero stayed strangely still, very carefully untangling sections of wool every few stitches.

 

Hella sighed. “What are you doing?”

 

“Knitting,” said Fero, not looking up from his work, “Adaire taught me.”

 

“I can see that,” says Hella, “but what  _ you  _ doing?”

 

“I can't have hobbies?”

 

Hella held her hands up, amused. 

 

“Ask him what he's making,” said Lem. 

 

Hella raised her eyebrows at Lem, then sighed. Lem's tone of voice suggested she was teetering on the edge of entering one of their long-standing arguments. 

 

Still. She would like to know. 

 

“What are you making?” said Hella. 

 

“It's a surprise,” said Fero. 

 

“He doesn't know,” said Lem, smugly. 

 

“I do so!” said Fero. He made a frustrated noise. “You made me drop a stitch!”

 

“You can't talk and knit?” said Lem, “That's how Adaire does it.”

 

“It's tricky!” said Fero, “And Adaire’s had way more practice than me at it!”

 

“Lem,” said Hella, “Come help me set up the tent. Fero can keep an eye on the fire while he knits.”

 

Lem obediently followed her as they set up their tent, holding it steady as Hella hammered the stakes into the frozen ground. 

 

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Fero working, his tongue in between his teeth as he carefully picked up the stitch he'd dropped. 

 

Lem followed her gaze. “He’s being very unreasonable.”

 

Hella paused for a moment before she began to hammer in another stake.

 

“I just mean,” continued Lem, loud enough that he must have been trying to get his voice to carry, “that there’s nothing  _ wrong _ with him not knowing what he’s doing, it’s just strange that he won’t  _ tell _ me.”

 

Fero’s head snapped up. “You don’t have to know  _ everything _ about me.”

 

“I just don’t know why you’re being so  _ shy _ about it,” said Lem.

 

As Lem’s focused drifted back to Fero, the tent began to tilt to the right.

 

“Hold it steady,” said Hella.

 

“I-- sorry Hella,” said Lem, “I mean, you’ve never shied away from saying you don’t know things before.”

 

“ _ Lem _ ,” said Hella, and the tent tilted again.

 

“Sorry,” said Lem.

 

Fero sighed, setting his knitting down on his pack and walking towards them. He held the opposite side to Lem. Hella had already secured that side, but it did have the effect of bringing Lem’s attention back to the task at hand, making it easier for Hella to pull the ropes taunt before she hammered in the next stake.

 

“Maybe I want to keep something to myself,” said Fero, “Is that such a  _ problem _ for you? You’re normally the one telling me to shut up.”

 

“I never meant it like  _ that _ ,” said Lem.

 

“I’m  _ so sorry _ ,” said Fero, drawing out the words, “how was I  _ supposed _ to take it?”

 

“I meant” Lem waved a hand and the tent swayed slightly, “you know,  _ be quiet for a little while so we don’t get caught doing whatever we’re doing _ , not  _ stop telling me things _ .”

 

Fero’s face flushed a light pink. “Well didn’t you say  _ that _ ?”

 

“Because I…” Lem’s cheeks flushed. “Normally you’re good at knowing what I mean without me having to say it, you know I--”

 

Hella stood up sharply. Lem and Fero both jumped. They seemed to have forgotten she was there.

 

“Um,” said Lem.

 

“I’m going to cook some dinner before the fire goes out,” said Hella.

 

“Right,” said Lem, not taking his eyes off Fero, “Right, good idea.”

 

They were still very quiet through dinner, Lem heating some small pastries over the fire and Fero stealing small pieces off both their plates (normally Hella would have protested, but Fero really did only take very small pieces, just to see what it tasted like). Occasionally one of them would go to speak at the same time as the other and they’d laugh, and look away from each other, stealing glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes. It was a different sort of quiet than before, still tense but not as stifling. The quiet of something waiting to break.

 

Hella was rather glad to be left out of it, even if she did sometimes find her eyes lingering on the dark green blush spreading across Lem’s cheeks or the small quirk of Fero’s smile.

 

They didn’t post a watch. Instead, Lem drew a series of small circles around their tent, placing a series of small pebbles inside the circles and then plucking a handful of noise on his violin. The tent disappeared from view.

 

Hella nodded, pleased, and Lem beamed.

 

Fero stepped carefully over the line of circles and Hella watched as he, too disappeared. He stuck his head back out of the circle.

 

“Did it work?”

 

“Of course it worked,” huffed Lem.

 

Hella made sure to hide the signs of their campfire, and their tracks, before she stepped into the circle. The world seemed much the same inside of it, except she was standing much closer to Lem than she normally would. Neither of them took a step back -- Lem because he was pressed against the tent as it was, and Hella because she didn’t want to step back out of the circle.

 

After the space of a few heartbeats, Hella stepped to the side. She was glad the darkness inside the tent hid the heat that had come into her cheeks.

 

Fero was already inside, curled inside his bedroll so that only his scruff of hair was visible.

 

“I thought it would be warmer in here,” said Fero, his voice slightly muffled.

 

“It’ll heat up,” said Hella.

 

Still, she took off her boots slowly, putting off the moment she’d have to take of her bulky jacket and leather armour to get into her own bedroll. Lem was already tucked into his own bedroll by the time she was done. She blew out the lamp, throwing the tent into darkness, and felt her way under her own covers.

 

They’d left her bedroll where she’d thrown it earlier, and she settled down between them. She could feel them both holding themselves still so as not to touch her. Hella rolled her eyes. The whole point of them only bringing one tent was to conserve body heat. They’d be to ones to feel the cold the most anyway, being closer to the sides.

 

Their breaths fogged the air a little, and Hella wondered if Lem had any pattern that could keep them warm. Or if perhaps Fero could have turned into a large and fuzzy creature to curl around them both to keep them warm.

 

Certainly no other thought of how the three of them could warm themselves crossed her mind. Not even once. Not at all.

 

“I really do like it when you tell me things,” said Lem, quietly, “Just so you know. In case you didn’t.”

 

“Oh,” said Fero. He was quiet for a long moment. “I didn’t know that.”

 

Hella could feel Fero wriggling next to her for a moment and, had she truly been asleep, it would certainly have woken her. She tried to breathe quietly. She felt Fero reach over her to clumsily lay a hand on Lem’s arm. Lem flinched slightly in surprise and then shifted, turning towards Fero.

 

“I didn’t know that,” said Fero again.

 

She could hear Lem’s slow inhale before he replied.

 

“Well. Uh. Now you do know.”

 

“Yeah,” said Fero.

 

There was long pause. Hella wondered if they’d both fallen asleep like that, curved awkwardly over her body.

 

“I’m still not telling you what I’m knitting though,” said Fero.

 

Lem laughed. Hella was glad that in the darkness, they couldn’t see the grin on her face.

 

“Dang,” said Lem. She could hear the smile in his voice.

 

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” said Fero.

 

“I guess I will,” said Lem.

 

Fero pulled back, settling back down. Lem stayed tilted toward them, and she could feel that Fero was too, his face pressed close to her arm.

 

She didn’t entirely mind. They were both very warm, and the air of the tent had shifted into something easy and comfortable. It wasn’t difficult, this time, to fall asleep.

 

\--

 

They continued their trek along the road. Lem made notes on the map of where the snow had become deep or where wind had blown tree branches onto the path. Fero was more talkative than he had been on the first part of their journey, warning them whenever a now-hidden dip in the road was coming up or pointing out places which had previously been well-known travel stops, currently in various states of disrepair.

 

He was also helpful in knowing how much snow would be difficult to Halfling travellers. Snow that came up to Hella’s knees was waist-deep to Fero, and snow that came up to her hips almost went over his head entirely. When this happened, Fero would fall behind them, using the path forged by Lem and Hella’s bodies to make his way through the snow.

 

Normally though, he walked in front, with Lem in the middle and Hella behind them, keeping her hand on her sword hilt just in case. She kept her attention on the trees beside them, letting the familiar sound of Lem and Fero’s chatter fade into the background.

 

Fero’s yelp drew her attention back to them. Her grip tightened on her sword hilt, but it looked as though the danger was as simple as Fero misjudging the depth of a pothole. Lem had a hand wrapped around Fero’s arm. Fero patted the back of Lem’s hand.

 

“Here,” said Lem.

 

He picked Fero up, settling him easily on his hip. Fero’s hands gingerly curled in the fabric of Lem’s jacket, steadying himself. He seemed, to Hella, to fit very well into Lem’s arms, although their twin blushes suggested that this was the first time Lem had ever made such an offer.

 

“Um, thanks,” said Fero. He took a deep breath. “ _ Anyway _ \--”

 

Fero launched back into whatever he’d been talking about before (something about bird flight paths, from what she could gather). Lem’s pace slowed a little, his focus more on smiling down at Fero that on the path in front of him.

 

Fero pressed his face into the crook of Lem’s neck as a particularly strong gust of wind blew through them, and Lem’s grip on Fero tightened in response. Hella forced herself to look away, her cheeks hot despite the cold wind. One of them, at least, needed to watch their steps.

 

\--

 

Fero's small patch of knitting grew as they travelled, from Halfling gloves-sized, to a potholder-sized square, to something approaching a lumpy scarf. 

 

Hella watched him work in the firelight, his hands moving slower, more carefully than she'd ever seen then. She could just hear the rhythmic  _ click-click  _ of his knitting needles over the fire.

 

Lem's head slipped to rest against her shoulder and she stilled for a moment before she realised he'd fallen asleep. She'd wake him in a moment, but for now she let the heat of the fire spread over her, Lem's warmth against her side and the quick sound of Fero's knitting needles on the other. 

 

\--

 

The winds had died down the next day, and they made good time as they began to loop back around to Rosemerrow. The path back would be a little more difficult, going over the hills.

 

“But there’s nothing to worry about,” said Fero, “I know these woods like the back of my hand.”

 

He took a step and disappeared into a snow drift. Hella crouched, reaching down into the Fero-shaped hole in the snow pull him out. Fero shook snow from his hair, looking slightly sheepish.

 

“Um,” said Fero, “you know, people don’t really spend that long looking at the back of their hands, so  _ really _ \--”

 

Hella laughed. “Maybe this will be easier.” 

 

She lifted Fero, settling him against her side. He was lighter than she would have expected, and she thought for a moment about the hollow bones of a bird, of holding something small and fragile close to her. 

 

Just as she had seen him do with Lem, Fero curled his fingers in the fabric of her jacket, anchoring himself. She could feel the warmth of him through her clothes despite the cold air. Occasionally he’d lift himself up a little to peer over her shoulder and speak to Lem, his chin hooked over her shoulder and the rumble of his voice against her arm.

 

Hella was glad they were still walking single file so that she didn’t have to meet Lem’s gaze. She wasn't sure what she thought she would find there. She wasn't sure what she  _ wanted _ to find, an even more frightening discovery. 

 

She didn’t set Fero down until they made camp for the night. Lem smiled at her over the top of Fero’s head as Fero got out his knitting. Hella smiled back, a low feeling of heat in her gut.

 

She’d been in many dangerous situations in her life. Before each battle she’d take stock, assessing how dangerous, how deadly the fight was going to be. Sitting beside Lem and Fero in the soft glow of their campfire gave her the same feeling, a tightness in chest making her heart beat faster. 

 

Hella looked over at them, curled asleep together by the fire. It looked almost as though they’d fallen asleep mid-argument, Fero's hand curled loosely in the fabric of Lems jacket, Lem's arm keeping Fero propped mostly upright. Unlike the rush of battle following the feeling of tightness in her chest, there was a slow warmth.

 

Fero blinked awake slowly under her gaze, looking from Lem to Hella. Lem stirred at the movement, his cheeks flushing a light green. He handed Fero his knitting (too wide to be a scarf now - a jumper perhaps, or a shawl?).

 

“Thanks,” said Fero, his voice soft.

 

When Hella stood to turn in for the night, Lem and Fero stayed awake for a little while longer, their quiet voices lulling Hella to sleep.

 

\--

 

One of the problems with endless night, and there were many, is that you couldn’t see the warning signs of rain until it was too late. It’s hard to notice grey clouds when there’s no starlight to block it out. So when it started raining, the only thing they could really do was rush for the closest cover they could find.

 

“This way!” said Fero, dashing in front of them.

 

Hella and Lem followed, ducking under branches and trying to keep sight of Fero, until they came to a rocky cliffside. Fero was standing under a rocky overhang, not particularly protected but at least dryer than they were right now. Lem and Hella had to crouch slightly to get under it. It was easy enough to sit down, the leaves and twigs on the ground not particularly warm but at least not wet.

 

“Well,” said Fero, “At least this will give me a chance to finish--”

 

“Is now really the time for knitting?” said Lem.

 

Fero already had his knitting out. “I’m almost finished! And you’ll like it when I’m done.”

 

Lem eyed the knitting, which flowed mostly-hidden into Fero’s bag. “Hmmm.”

 

“You may as well,” said Hella, “I don’t think it’s stopping any time soon.”

 

Hella scanned the treeline for any potential threats, but it seemed as though most threats had good enough sense to keep out of the rain.

 

“There!” said Fero, “Ta da!”

 

Hella looked back to see Fero shaking his knitting loose from his bag. It was a big blanket, the weave of it starting out looking a little wonky, a few dropped stitched here and there, but stronger, neater as it moved up.

 

“Oh,” said Lem.

 

“Are you surprised?” said Fero, looking from one of them to the other, “I told you you’d be surprised.”

 

Lem’s gaze slid to Hella for a moment before he looked back at the blanket. “I’d say we are, yes.”

 

“Well let's try this baby out!” said Fero.

 

His voice was laughing, loud over the rain, but she could see the way his hand trembled a little as he reached for them, gesturing them closer. 

 

Fero draped the blanket over the three of them, pulling them close to him so they could all be covered. It was warmer than Hella would have thought, and she ran a hand over the thick wool.

 

“Well?” said Fero.

 

She looked down at him. “It’s good. Very warm.”

 

Fero beamed. He patted her hand, his touch lingering just a little. Hella looked down at his hand, and then back up to him. Even in the dim moonlight, Hella could see Fero’s cheeks flush. He swallowed hard.

 

Hella leant down, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Fero let out a small gasp of surprise before returning her kiss. When she pulled back she could feel Lem looking at them, his mouth a little agape.

 

Fero licked his lips. “Lem? What do  _ you _ think?”

 

“Well,” said Lem, “Well I, it’s, um-- oh forget it.”

 

Fero’s laugh was cut off by Lem’s kiss. Hella pulled the blanket around her shoulders, watching the way Lem’s hand carded through the tangle of Fero’s hair. 

 

When they broke apart Fero leant back, pulling them even closer to him and snuggling against their sides. Hella reached over and pulled the blanket over Lem’s shoulder.

 

“Oh, thanks,” said Lem. Then, as if realising how close their faces were, he bit his lip. “Oh. Um.”

 

Hella closed the gap between them, leaning back to see Fero watching them with a heat to his gaze. Once they got back to Rosemerrow, and the privacy of a locked door could bring, that was definitely something she would spend more time considering.

 

“I’m glad you guys like it,” said Fero, “The blanket.”

 

Lem laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of Fero’s head.

 

Fero found one of Lem and Hella’s hands under the blankets, tangling them together with his. Lem leant his head against her shoulder, his body curved around Fero. 

 

Hella smiled, looking out into the cold rain. She didn’t think she had ever felt so warm.

 

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi: mariusperkins


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